The Exorcist is a landmark movie. Along with
Psycho, it legitimized horror as a genre - what had previously been relegated to drive-in and second-feature filler was now big business.
William Friedkin's adaptation of
William Peter Blatty's novel (scripted by Blatty) scored a Best Picture Oscar nomination and nine other Oscar nods. (Best Picture went to
The Sting, but
The Exorcist did take Best Sound and Best ...